Promises
by reraimu
Summary: Pepito was watching him, he was always watching him. He does it for Todd, Pepito keeps telling him, and Todd realizes this notion is bittersweet. Pepito/Squee. One-shot. Warnings: Bullying, Blood


Todd didn't have to physically see Pepito to know he was there.

Todd could feel the others presence; it was an ominous aura, a tactile one. Todd could feel it practically breathing down his neck, enveloping him, piercing him. Sometimes he felt that if he simply extended his hand, he could curl his fingers into it it, let it thread through his digits while he absorbed the tingling warmth it exuded.

Pepito was watching him, he was always watching him. He does it for Todd, Pepito keeps telling him, and Todd realizes this notion is bittersweet. Todd didn't know how to explain the duel feeling of safety and overwhelming fear.

Todd released a breath, the tension leaving his shoulders as Pepito's presence suddenly dissolved. Todd huddled in on himself, his chest pressing into the splintered lunch table where a half eaten egg sandwich sat on a grease-stained paper plate. It was his first meal of the day, and probably his last if Rosemary didn't get to him first. She always made sure he was properly fed.

Todd let out a small huff of breath and resigned himself to spending the rest of the lunch period watching the other children chase each other around the playground.

Xxx

Todd didn't mean for it to happen. As always, it was completely out of his control. He wasn't watching where he was going, he didn't notice that he had stepped foot in a secluded area away from the lockers, away from the bathrooms, the classrooms. He was alone and that was never a good situation.

"You think you can get away with everything, don't you?" a voice said from behind him.

Todd squeaked and quickly turned around, holding the straps of his backpack tightly within his shaking fingers. Torq stood in front of him, hands at his sides but his fingers curled into threatening fists.

"You have the whole school scared because of you," Torq continued, taking a menacing step closer.

"N-no," Todd murmured, backing up with each step Torq took. Eventually, space gave way to the corridor wall and Todd found himself pressed up against it, his hands splayed against the barrier. Todd lowered his eyes and anchored them on the linoleum floor. He tried counting the sprinkled bits of epoxy on the floor to distract him from the inevitable, but he knew it was futile.

Todd merely closed his eyes.

Xxxxxxxx

He took the long way home. It was a route with less people around, so he wouldn't have to deal with their stares and gasps of shock.

He stumbled his way along the sidewalk, pressing the sleeve ends of his sweater underneath his nose where a viscous smear of blood coated his upper lip, his teeth stained a muddy red. He coughed once, a gargled, pleghmy sound, and continued onward.

Everything near his head hurt. His eyes hurt, his head ached, his nose felt like someone had stuck knives through his nostrils, and he was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain a stable gait as he dragged his feet across the pavement.

Then, in that instant, his pain couldn't compare to the atmosphere that suddenly fell over him. Todd had to hobble over to a nearby tree. He held onto the strips of peeling bark and leaned against the trunk, trying to breathe through the burble of blood.

"**Who**?"

Todd let out a muffled sob, finally pressing his back against the tree when he found his balance again. Pepito's fury was painful. Todd could feel it rippling across his skin, singing the fine hair on his arms, heating his face. Maybe in a different circumstance, the gesture would be soothing, but Pepito was too angry to reign in his control.

Pepito hovered in front of him, over him, spindly hands floating at his sides as his duel-colored eyes stared down at Todd with a look that left the human vibrating with fear.

Todd could only watch as Pepito gently lowered himself to the ground, a trial of black light following after him. He looked menacing with his head tilted low, horns sharp and glistening, black wisps of light dancing along his skin. Pepito's heavy black boots hit the grass with a thud, and finally Todd willed himself to look away.

"Squee, answer my question."

Todd flinched at the nickname, and before he could do anything else, Todd felt Pepito's calloused fingers around his own bloody ones, gently prying Todd's hand away from his nose. The blood had stopped and dried, and all that was left was a dry, peeling patch of dark red.

Pepito gently, yet thoroughly ran his fingers along Todd's face, eyes trained intently on the welts forming along the human's temples, the jagged gash to his bottom lip, the bruises around the boy's eyes where spidery blue veins strained against the thin skin there. Pepito narrowed his eyes, his mouth pinching shut.

"You do not have to say, I know now," Pepito said quietly. He pressed his palm against the left side of Todd's face, cupping his friend's cheek, and a small smile spread along his lips at Todd's small gasp of "oh!" as Pepito took the pain away.

The gashes closed up, the blood was completely mopped away, and the discoloration of the boy's face returned to its normal peachy hue.

"You are surprised," Pepito laughed softly, fanged canines peaking through chapped lips. "My friend, I can create pain, but I can also take it away."

Todd pressed his small hands to his face, fingers trailing over smooth, undamaged skin. Even his fingers were no longer bloody. Todd looked at Pepito then, both in fright and awe. He didn't know the anti-Christ had the capacity to heal others.

"_Perdóname_," Pepito said, taking a step back. "Father had an urgent matter to discuss with me, so I was not here for you."

"No, no it's ok!" Todd interrupted, folding his hands in front of him. Todd breathed deeply through his now clear nose, his chest expanding with air. He was starting to get nervous because he knew where this was going to go.

"Please go to my home tonight, mother is expecting you," Pepito continued, dismissing Todd's attempts at pacifying the situation. Pepito merely smiled.

Todd watched in impending fear as the black wisps of light returned to hover around their dark prince like a macabre halo.

"Please!" Todd shouted, taking a step forward. "Please promise me you won't do anything."

Pepito's smile was still in place, even when his form began to dissolve within the black cloud, his image flickering in and out of existence.

"Pepito please!"

But Todd's fevered pleas only met emptiness.

Xxxx

"_We're standing at the corner of Lincheon and Pine, where a frantic 911 phone call placed by an unidentified individual reported that a 12 year old boy's head imploded from seemingly out of nowhere. We have no details about the boy, nor exactly where the house is located. As you can see behind me, the police have sanctioned off the area and have not let any reporters get close to the crime scene." _

Todd dropped the remote.


End file.
